Improvement in creech-loading fire-arms



.-0. VREDENBURGH. Breech-Loading Fire-Arm. No. 203,799. Patented May 14, 1878.

N. PETERS. FHOTO-LITHQGRAFHER.'WAS IN x a ALB EBT 0. vnED NfBUBGH,

PA E FF QEi on KINGSTON, NEW YORK- patial... forming of: Lett rs Patent No. 203,799,. dated May 14, isy ap plicationfiled: June29,1877. v i b To all whom) it may comm z of Ulster, in the'State of New York,have in f venteda new and us f r Improvement in Breech-Loading Fire-Arms, andI do hereby declare that the following is afull and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying plate of drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The feature which distinguishes my in.- vention fromall others consists in so constructing the mechanism of the lock that the act of cocking the gun opens the breech and causes the empty shell to be discharged or extracted from the barrel after firing it. A new shell is then placed in the barrel, and the trigger is pulled, which act closes the breech and then fires the gun.

After reloading the hammer can be let down to the half-cock, which also closes the breech.

Now, when the gun is brought to the full-cock the extractor is inoperative, and will not extract the shell. It will be seen that very few motions are required to load and fire this gun.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, 1 will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

In the drawings,-Figure 1 is atransverse or longitudinal view, showing the positions of the various working parts of the lock. Fig. 2 is a sectional view, showing the extracting parts of the lock. Fig. 3 is a sectional view, which shows the parts in their relative positions, as when the gun is at full-cock, with the extractor down. Fig. 4 shows the breechblock, breech-block brace, and hammer in their relative positions to each other. Fig. 5 is a view of the cooking lever and spring which carries it back after cocking. Fig. 6 is a view, showing the cocking-lever and its relative position with the hammer.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

In the drawings, A represents a rifle-barrel B, the breech-piece for holding the barrel, which can be attached in any suitable manner. It also contains the lock-works. G is the breech-block, which closes the breech end of the barrel. This block has at one side a separate piece or projection in which there is a triangular slot. :A 'pin, V, on the breechblock brace works in this slot, to turn back the breech block when the brace D I drawn fdown'. D is the breech-block brace, which closes up against and "holds. the breech-block firm against the barrel; "E is the hammer of 1 tlie'lock'. This also holds up the brace init's position. G, D, and E combined securely closeand firmly hold and.lock the'brechuntil the hammer is drawn down, which re I leases all. F is the piece which extracts the shell after it has been fired. N is a spring, which discharges theshell from the barrel. 1 is a lever, which holds the hammer when it is cooked. K, Fig. 4, shows the cocking-catches on the hammer into which the lever I'catches. I is the trigger which acts against the lever I. l? isa spring, which presses the lever I into the catches on K.

- J is the mainspring, which is screwed fast to the breech-piece B at one end. The other end is connected to the hammer with a link in the manner as shown in Fig. 4. at K. The hammer is drawn down with the lever L, Fig. 5. This lever is placed upon the piece M, and acts upon the same axis with the hammer, as shown in Fig. 6. Into the piece M, and projecting toward the hammer at K, is placed a pin, which pin catches against K at X as the lever L is drawn back. The pin is shown in Fig. 5 at W in dotted lines. This pin hauls the hammer down when the lever L is drawn' back. When the lever L is released, the spring 0, which rests upon the hook, as seen in Figs. 3 and 5, causes the lever to fly back to the starting-point, leaving the hammer cocked until discharged by a pull upon the trigger.

The extractor F is placed upon the same axis with the breech-piece G, and close beside it. A hook upon it catches the head of the shell to haul it out. Upon one side of the hammer, as seen in Fig. 2, and at B, Fig. 6, is a stud. This stud catches against one end of a jointed lever, G H, Fig. 2. One end of this lever, at G, is placed against the extractor F. The pointed end H moves around, as shown by the dotted line at Z. The stud R moves as shown by the dotted line S. The springs Q Q keep the lever H at the point marked Z when the stud R is not in contact with it.

When the hammer is drawn down the stud It comes in contact with the lever H, and carries it along freely with it until it reaches the position as shown in Fig. 2, when the joint in the levers G and H closes and the two act as one lever. Now, as the hammer is drawn down it moves the point G, which presses against the end of extractor F, and starts it along with it until the pin (seen at 4, Fig. 2,) slides off the end of the spring N and is caught by the incline at T, when the spring N acts with a sudden force and throws the extractor back, as seen in Fig. 3. Just before the hammer reaches the full-cock the stud R reaches the point where the dotted lines Z and S cross each other, at which point the lever H is released, and the spring Q carries it back to the point of repose at Z. When the hammer is carried home the stud R again catches the lever H and carries it along with it to the point where the dotted lines again cross, where the lever is released, and spring Q again brings it to the point of rest at Z.

As the hammer is brought down it hauls down the breech-block brace with it by coming in contact with the hook U, Fig. 4. This also acts to drawback the breech-block. The pin V, working against the edges of the triangular opening on the breech-block, draws it back, as fully shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

The gun is fired by the hammer striking the firing-pin Y.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The breech-block 0, having the slotted projection at one side, the breech-block brace D, having the pin Y engaging said slot, and the hammer E, the whole constructed and arranged substantially as shown and specified.

2. The stud R, the jointed levers Grand H, and extractor N, when arranged and combined in the manner shown, and for the pur pose set forth.

3. The cocking-lever L and cocking-piece M and pin W, operating to open the breech and cook the piece, and the spring 0 engaging said lever, substantially as specified.

ALBERT o. VREDENBURGH. 

